Mike Chrisp

We spent a few days in Urumqi and so went to the museum and saw a complete history of Xinjiang. From the stone age up to nearly the present day. There was also an exhibition of all the ethnic groups. China has 56 different ethnic groups and Xinjiang has 47 of them. We saw the Loulan Beauty a superbly well preserved mummy. Desiccated by the dryness as compared to Egyptian mummies which go through a complex series of processes. She was very good looking as the Japanese found out when they carried out a series of scans to check on her physiognomy. She was Indo-European with blood group "O."

We met with Lao Wang. My first impression of him was of a Chinese version of Samuel L Jackson — a cool man who could fix anything.

After an evening being entertained by the sponsors of the Trans Taklamakan Desert Rally, we met Lao Ru who has driven the Paris-Dakkar rally 3 times. A legend in China, his charm came across despite the language barrier. He personally entertained us and we felt quite honoured to be in his company.

We travelled down to Korla and were caught for speeding. The police officer told Lao Wang that he was travelling at 140 km/hr. This was not so as the Nissan was fitted with a warning bleeper which kicked in at 120 km/hr. The other problem was that Lao Bei had taken the vehicle registration documents with him. This was fixed by Lao Wang's intricate network of connections and he was "let off" with a 200 Yuan fine. At Korla we met up with some of Lao Wang's friends, Sylvia and Qing  And we were joined later at dinner by Lao Pang. The "living map of the desert." He was such a character but he did give us information about finding the Lop Nur people. We had the biggest kebabs I've ever seen. They did not use skewers they used arrows and the amount of meat made all that we had had before or since seem paltry.

The next day we drove out into the desert to look for these ancient peoples. Indo-European, they have survived in the desert for thousands of years. They fish in pools and lakes on the edge of the desert and at the small number of oases scattered around this area. Sven Hedin explored this area at the end of the 19th century. The vast desert butted right up to the low scrub, but at the Lop Nur Peoples Village, a showcase area, we saw trees allegedly over a thousand years old. More importantly we met a man 104 years old which has been confirmed back in Beijing. The journey out took us down narrow tracks and we ended back at the same village twice. We were quite possibly the first westerners to stop there.

Eventually we had some assistance from a man on a motorcycle and we were led out to a larger track and we could make our escape westwards towards Korla hitting the Trans Taklamakan Desert Highway. This was a feat of the nation's determination to conquer the desert. It stretches for nearly 500 km south from the road junction on the Korla-Kuqa road. This whole area is being explored for oil and natural gas and there were rigs everywhere.

When we arrived in Kuqa I tried to use the laptop computer but it was dead. I could not process any more photographs or write up my diary for dispatch to the web site. I became fairly well dejected.

From Kuqa we travelled north west out of town to find the Kizil Beacon Tower. This was one of a series of warning beacons in case of enemy attack. They would use smoke during the day and flames at night. Travelling up a dried up river bed we climbed out up a steep bank to gain the road and then entered an incredible gorge -- the Tian Shan Mysterious gorge. Every colour of red was displayed on the vertiginous canyon walls.

We became lost and had to stop many times to find our way to the Kizil Quinci Grottoes. These are the oldest Buddhist cave paintings in China and we managed to gain access through Lao Wang's charm and persuasion. We had a tour of about 8 of the caves (there are over 230 in various states of repair). These were pure Buddhist from India without Chinese influence, unlike the paintings at Magao. The colours were starting to fade slightly and much of the materials used for paint was oxidizing and subsequently changing hue. What ever they had used for red had become black. Blue was created from crushed Lapis Lazuli. The earliest grottoes were carved out of the rock during the 3rd century and continued through to the latest during the 9th century.

We could only enter the tombs accompanied by a guide and were not allowed to take photographs or to touch anything. Many of the grottoes were destroyed during a violent earthquake. What was left was defaced by Moslems and Red Guards.

We continued on, stopping at Aksu for something to eat around 9:00 pm. We pulled up at a roadside restaurant and met the manageress. Well we thought she must be the manageress because she certainly organised everybody, including making Lao Wang move the Nissan forward to allow them to bring out a table and chairs so that we could eat behind the vehicle.

At 10 pm we were once again on the road. Lao Wang decided to push on to reach Kashgar as Tim and I dozed in the back. We were stopped by the police for a routine check and had to wait for nearly 15 minutes in a very warm evening with a full moon rising in the east.

Kashgar, such a mystical place but not a 3:30 in the morning. We checked in and eventually got to bed at 4:30.

The next day we found out that there was a computer building in the west of the city. We set of and managed to buy a new hard drive for the laptop which we would fit later. We had lunch and went on a tour of the "Old Town" with its narrow mud brick walled streets. We twisted and turned through a maze of streets happening on little gems such as a pottery run by a matriarch complete with a wonderful set of gold teeth. There were small courtyards and an amazing shop straight out of Dickens', "The old Curiosity Shop."

It was full of exotic things such as a collection of money where Tim bought some Iraqi money complete with the head of Saddam. We examined a Koran reassuringly guaranteed to be over 500 years old -- I could believe it. The older parts of the city are being torn down and right at the entrance a whole area was being developed for a car park. Back at the hotel I took the laptop apart with a Swiss army knife and replaced the hard drive. It still did not work so I phoned a friend in England, Tim Ornellas, and we had a discussion as to what it might be and how to correct it. It would take more than the knife to sort this out.

In the evening we went out to photograph and look around the Id Kah Mosque. One of the largest in China. Built in 1442 its grounds could hold 20,000 people. Tim was again not allowed to film. We spent an evening with the very hospitable Uighur people in a run down quarter of the city. Fascinating street activities in a town that definitely does not sleep. Cooking, making wooden baskets, welding, copper beating and tin drum making were all taking place cheek by jowl. The street noises were deafening with constant horns from the motorbikes, taxis and tuktuks.

People were everywhere and we were invited to a traditional Uighur restaurant for a meal. The next day air was hot, dusty and still I wandered out early to take photographs of Dong Lake with fisherman already well established on the lakeshore. We decided to take the laptop to a computer specialist and left it with him to try to get it working and went off to see the Tomb of Abakh Hoja. This was a tranquil place but again Tim was not allowed to film. He was becoming extremely irritated by now but it is China and he needs a permit and of course money to get anywhere.

The tomb contains the remains of about 70 members of the same family but two are important Abakh Koja himself, a well respected ruler around the 16th century and the tomb of a favourite concubine of a Qing emperor. We continued our tour of the highly decorated exterior of the tomb (totally plain inside) made from beautifully designed ceramic tiles, a similar but third division version of the Taj Mahal but on a much smaller scale. Our tour continued into the Mosque which was in a very sad state of repair. The main cross members supporting the roof were cracked, and the whole of one side of the building was shored up with massive tree trunks.

We had lunch at "John's Cafe" a western style bar which we used for directions and information about Shipton's Arch. We had heard about this and seen photographs in the National Geographic magazine and wanted to see it for ourselves.

We set off late, around 3:30, and drove out of town much slower than normal in case we got lost again. We headed west along a dusty road lined with white barked poplars. We pulled over and asked a road crew if they knew where the arch was, only to find that we were almost on top of the turn. We turned off the road and followed wheel tracks up an old wide river washout. We bumped and bounced our way 18 km, passing a lone shepherd until we could go no further.

The valley quite literally just stopped. Off to the left was a narrow gap perhaps a metre wide. We drank some water and geared up for the climb up. The shepherd we had seen came along and grinned and waved his hand and then disappeared. We entered the gap only to find that it widened out almost immediately. Following an obvious trail we suddenly came across a ladder going up through some more narrows, this time vertical. At the side was a chair. The shepherd was waiting for us. He wanted money to use the ladders -- 60 Yuan. Outrageous. That was far too expensive particularly when we had been told it should be no more than 3 Yuan. Lao Wang's battering technique paid off but he would not budge for less than 30 Yuan.

The man had dark green eyes and was dressed in a suit with a flat cap. We set off one at a time with the "Ladderkeeper" carrying Tim's tripod. We negotiated our way through more ladders and narrows until it opened out a little ahead. Our new-found travelling companion waved us goodbye and we were left to find our own way. We turned a corner and could see the top of an arch perhaps 500 metres away. We finally climbed up a steep grassy bank and were confronted with an astonishing sight. The ground just fell away in front of us but above us soared this huge curving span of rock. Well not quite rock, it was a conglomerate which contained pebbles, large rounded stones and rocks held together by clay.

We wandered back and forth photographing every angle. Tim and I decided to climb up as far as we could or rather as far as we dared. The looseness was quite unnerving. After we had climbed up about 50 metres we decided that although we could ascend alright descending would be a frightening proposition. Every foothold on a dusty surface was suspect. Every rock or rounded pebble had to be checked by tapping it to see if it was loose. We decided to retreat and had a hair raising time reaching the col.

Just at that time the sun came out, the colours warmed and the arch took on a completely different appearance. We finally descended back down the ladder system and through the gorges. We offered a 5 Yuan note to the "Ladderkeeper," but he would not take it. Tim stuffed it in his pocket.

We had intended to sleep out here to capture the dawn but we had enough film and photographs to return to Kashgar. We had brought some food earlier and Lao Wang offered it to the shepherd. He would not take it but we insisted. The man asked in Uighur, which Lao Wang could not understand, if he could be taken down the valley. We cleared a space and he got in. His clothes probably had not been washed in years and quite a pungent smelled filled the car. Eventually we bumped our way down to his stone-built home and he invited us in. We kept pointing at our watches but he was having none of it. A woman was squatting outside a low open doorway and we smiled and waved. The man disappeared inside and promptly returned with a kettle and a towel. He poured water over our hands and offered us the towel to dry ourselves. We entered a very dark square room. Carpets were on the floor and the woman was by now sitting in front of a stove with a bent stack passing out through the roof. A single small opening allowed light to enter to supplement the single light bulb. More carpets were stacked against a wall but a television took pride of place next to it.

We were invited to sit down and he brought out the bread we had given him and proudly presented bowls of yoghurt and some goats cheese. A young man suddenly appeared in the doorway. Probably their son. We sat and grinned and made approving noises but finally we had to leave. We all got up and there were hand shakes all round. We jumped back in the Nissan and drove away waving. Such generosity from people who have so little and such a harsh lifestyle.

The view ahead opened up to reveal a valley made of row upon row of convoluted shapes and rich colours. We drove through the wash at high speed, Lao Wang enjoying the driving experience as we were thrown around. Every time we hit a hard bump Tim would shout out, "Watch my hard drive!"

We got back to Kashgar and went to John's bar where we had a few beers and decided to stay at the Seman hotel. We checked in and went up to the rooms. Quite the worst place we had stayed in during our entire trip. We did not bother to unpack, just collected our things and carried them out to Nissan.

"Bad service," said Lao Wang. "No dolly for the luggage. I asked about power in the rooms but they didn't send anyone."

We could have been in a backpackers lodge in Kathmandu.

We went back to the hotel we had stayed at for the last two nights and checked in at 1:30 am. Today we took the Nissan to a garage and they have taken the back axle apart looking for the source of an overheating problem. The rear wheel bearings were shot but they thought they might be able to repair them. Tim and I went around the "Sunday Market" before coming to the Semam Hotel to get internet access. It's very hot and we're now quite thirsty and hungry!

—Mike Chrisp

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